Matching skills are an important cognitive developmental milestone. It shows that your child understands the similarities and differences between different stimuli (colors, shapes, etc.), and can make decisions based on those similarities and differences.
What sort of learning occurs in this game?
This game focuses on a basic visual and cognitive skill -matching. Attention span and visual scanning are exercised in this activity as well. Parents are encouraged to label the color / shape while your child matches, so he/she can learn the words at the same time.
Setting up this activity:
Print out a template (or draw your own) caterpillar
Fill in each circle with a color
Lay out small items with various colors to match (e.g. Crayons, LEGOs, blocks, etc.)
Start matching!
Other alternatives:
Instead of colors, you can also practice matching shapes, alphabets or numbers!
Playing the game
1. If this is a new task for your child, start by demonstrating what to do. After modeling a few matches, prompt your child to do the next one. It may take more than a few prompts for your child to get it, be patient and keep prompting.
2. Shower your child with praises and hugs when he/she completes the caterpillar! Hooray!
